All Over Again
by Sephiroth's Kitsune
Summary: It's been five years since Sora sealed Kingdom Hearts, but now the darkness is threatening to return and the doors are opening. And what of the boy who was locked inside?
1. Back to Kingdom Hearts

Ok I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters (only in my dreams ^_^)  Kiara is my character however so no touchie!

Sora laid out on the bent tree on Paopu Island.  It's been five years since Kingdom Hearts and nothing had really changed, except one thing.  Riku wasn't there.  Sora brushed his hand over his cinnamon brown hair and sat up.  With length his hair had begun to lay flat but a few locks continued to be rebellious.

"Hey Sora!  I challenge you!" yelled a blonde from the beach.

Sora sighed and rolled off his perch.  He walked across the bridge and jumped into the sand.

"I'm not going easy on you this time Tidus," warned Sora.

"Just what I wanted to hear," Tidus said and held up his sword, long since having abandoned the old sparring sticks.

Sora held up his hand and summoned his key blade with the Ultima Weapon key chain.

"Engarde!"

"Leon!"

The tall brunette stopped and turned," What is it?"

"There, there's something wrong," gasped the woman in pink with long brown hair.

"What's going on?"

"You mean you can't feel it?" asked a blonde man in a flight jacket.

Leon stared at the two," ..dear god."

"Aw man, beat again," said Tidus.  "I bet if Riku were still here you could beat him now too."

Sora's expression grew solemn at the mention of Riku's name.

"Why?" thought Sora.  "I set out to find the door of light, but all I found was darkness and I locked Riku inside it!"

"You alright?"

"I'm fine," smiled Sora.

"Sora!  Sora! There's a weird thing over here!" yelled Kairi.

Sora dismissed the key blade and ran under the bridge and through the wooden door to the other side of the island.

"It's Cid's gummi ship!" exclaimed Sora.

"a what?' asked Tidus.

Sora had never told the others about his adventure, they only knew about his strange new sword.  Kairi had kept quiet about it too.  Sora ran down to where five years earlier their raft had lain.

"Sora!"

A short girl in green hugged the key blade master.

"Yuffie!  What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked.

Leon, Cloud, Cid, and Aeris stepped off the ship.  None of them seemed too happy.  Then it hit Sora.

"The barriers between world are gone," he stated.

"Exactly," replied Leon.  "The darkness is growing again.  Kingdom Hearts is about to open."

"Riku!" Sora thought frantically.

"Hey, you all just disappeared ya?" said the orange haired man running over.

"Shh," quieted Tidus, "Sora's talking to aliens."

Kairi gave the pair and exasperated look and turned back to the others.

"So what do we do?" asked Sora.

"We have to reseal the key hole before its too late," answered Aeris.  "Before the stars begin to disappear again."

Sora looked back at his childhood companions, minus Selphie who was home sick.  They were all just the same, just bigger.  He remembered how hard it was on them when they were separated the first time.

"We don't have all day shrimp," said Cloud.

Sora sighed and boarded the gummi ship.  He sat in a large bedroom and began to fall asleep.

"I'm leaving again…. but maybe I'll get to see Riku.  Just one glimpse would be enough.  I just want to apologize."

"Boo!"

"Wah!"

Sora sat up and stared at the girl infront of him.

"Kairi!  What the hell are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I'd let you go off on your own did you?" she laughed.

"But it's dangerous!  You of all people should know that."

"I do, but you'll protect me.  I'm sure."

"Kairi…. you shouldn't rely on me.  People get hurt because of me."

"Nonsense!  You saved the princesses, you saved countless worlds.  Doesn't that count for something?"

Sora sighed and laid back down.

"This is about Riku isn't it?" Kairi said knowingly.  "It's not your fault.  Stop beating yourself up about it." She laid down beside him and rested her head on his chest.  After returning from Kingdom Hearts the two had hooked up, but after a few weeks of dating they found it just wasn't meant to be.  They remained close though.  "It pains the others to always see you so depressed."  She snuggled closer.

"But it was my fault," thought Sora.

"Goofy!  Wake up you big palooka!" the little duck screamed.

"What is it Donald?"

"A weird woman appeared in the castle a moment ago.  She went into the queens room!"

Well garwsh, why didn't u stop her?"

**Blink Blink**

Donald ran off screaming with Goofy quick behind.

"Donald," whispered Goofy," That's a man I think."

"I could swear it was a woman."

The silver haired person stood in the lavishly adorned room.

"..and the Invincible is waiting just outside Traverse Town.  Make your choice wisely Queen Minnie."

The intruder turned and disappeared.  The queen looked very distraught.  She started pacing the length of the room.

"If only Mickey were here."

Kairi shivered and walked closer to Sora.  The darkness was overwhelming.

"Are we almost there yet?" asked Yuffie.

"We're getting close," Sora replied.

They came to a dead end and Sora placed a hand on the tall wall.  As the wall fell away Kairi jumped back and almost fell off the skinny invisible walkway.  The group went through the new portal and teleported to two giant white doors and were immediately attacked by shadow heartless that were squeezing through the doors.

"What do we do?!" asked Yuffie.

"We've gotta close the doors!" Leon yelled back.

Cloud was already pushing on the door heavy door when it burst open, throwing the blonde into Leon.  The behemoth stomped out with shadow and soldier heartless scurrying out underneath it.

"Graviga!"

All the heartless out side the door were flattened and then easily picked off.  The heartless stopped flooding out.

"Sora!"

The brunette turned and saw a duck run towards him.

"Donald!  Goofy!  So it was you who used the magic."

"Where's the king? Goofy asked.

"I'm in here!" Mickey called.

The three companions walked to the edge of the doorway where the heartless moved restlessly.  They looked around and finally spotted Mickey high above the chaos.

"Come on your highness!  We'll catch you!' Donald yelled.

Mickey jumped into Donald and Goofy and they rolled the way.

"But where's Riku?" thought Sora.

Ok so what did you think?  Comments are always welcome, just don't be too harsh on me.  This is my first fic ^_^;;


	2. The Winged Creature Arrives

Again I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters and all that good stuff.  But Kiara is mine, so hands off.

"But where's Riku?" thought Sora.

Sora scanned around for his silver haired friend but couldn't find him.

"Riku!"  Kairi joined Sora in front of the heartless.

"Riku!" they called together.

Deep in the room there was a mound of shadows.  None of them faced the way of their escape.  One of the shadows disappeared in a puff of purple-black smoke and Sora ran towards it without a second thought.

"Mickey you coward!"

Riku sliced through four heartless and glanced at the scampering mouse.

"Even a king has his limits," Mickey called from high on a poll.

For five years Mickey and Riku had searched for the core of Kingdom Hearts.  Within was said to be the portals to all worlds.  But the more they tried, the more times they ended up back at the closed doors.  The heartless had been relatively scarce during the years, but each time they fought the heartless seemed to be stronger.  Suddenly though, two days ago, the heartless surged from nowhere.  Riku's black clothes were ripped and torn.  The silver haired man tore off the remainder of his shirt and tossed it away.

"If you don't get down here, in two seconds, I'll…."

A shadow heartless leapt onto Riku's back and bit his shoulder, adding more blood to the rivulets already cascading down Riku's well-muscled form.  Riku's hair was coming loose from a makeshift hair tie he had put in during a lull in the fight.  Now at age twenty his hair went slightly below his shoulder blades.  Riku ripped the shadow off and tossed it into a spike.  A loud thud alerted Riku to a large approaching figure.  The tip of a black horn was the first sign he saw, then the rest of the behemoth emerged from the darkness.  A rain of lightning struck the area around Riku and he barely jumps out of the way of them.

"You're dead!"

Riku charged the four legged creature and cut it to ribbons and it disappeared in a familiar purple-black mist like the other dead heartless.  Mickey still clung to the pipe high above the fighting and when the shadows tried to climb he'd blizzaga them back down.  Mickey then dismissed the Kingdom key blade and the heartless stopped coming after him.  Riku's only weapon however was the Oblivion key blade, therefore wave after wave of heartless crashed against him.

A Defender appeared and shot a stream of fire at Riku's back.  Riku cried out and staggered forward.  A shadow jumped on his burnt skin and clawed the melting skin off.  A freezing shot destroyed the shadow and toppled Riku forward.  He tried desperately to kill the black parasites but they kept coming.

A few fireballs knocked enough shadows away for Riku to regain his feet.  Blood dripped from where he had hit his head on the hard metallic floor and little of his slightly tanned skin could be seen among the red rivers.

"Riku!  Get up here and get rid of the key blade!" Mickey called.

"No!  We can't let them open the door!"

"It's sealed Riku!"

"No it's not!  Even the best lock can be broken with enough force!"

A red haze was beginning to blur his vision, but he kept fighting.  Time and time again heartless got their sharp claws on the man then erupt in smoke.  The enemy numbers seemed to diminish, but just when Riku got his hopes up more came.  The shadows covered him and he began to fall.

"No!" Riku's thought voice screamed. "I must protect Kairi and Sora!"

Even after five years the two of them were all he could think about.  A Dark Ball turned on its side and came chomping at Riku.  He didn't turn fast enough and it hit him from behind.  The sharp fleshy teeth penetrated Riku's skin and still dug deeper.  His eyes fogged over and he began to fall backwards.

"Riku!"

The Dark Ball moved away and let blood pour from the new gaping wounds.  Riku fell hard on the discolored ground.  Through the shadows that piled on top of him Riku saw a sliver of light peek through a crack in the doors.

"No…."

Riku's world went black.

The heartless dove on the original key blade master but they were all extinguished by the Ultima Weapon.  Sora hacked at the shadow pile and caught a glimpse of something silver which made him attack with an added fervor.

"Sora!" Kairi yelled. "You're in too deep we can't get to you!"

A new wave of heartless poured out and buried Sora beneath them.  He continued to slice at the heartless as the bit and clawed at him.  Sora barely heard Aeris's scream through the mass of heartless.  Then they felt a pulse of energy from deep inside Kingdom Hearts.  The heartless stopped their assaults and looked around nervously.  A streak of white shot out from the dark void in front of Sora.  What seemed like a giant bird swept over the heartless, obliterating them completely, and stopped at the edge of the platform outside the great doors.


	3. Pasts Revealed

Yadeeyadeeya Don't own kingdom hearts or its characters, Kiara is mine don't steal without permission. Ok? Ok. On with the fic.

A streak of white shot out from the dark void in front of Sora.  What seemed like a giant bird swept over the heartless, obliterating them completely, and stopped at the edge on the platform out side the great doors.  Two large white wings folded behind the black clad figure as it stood.  It shook its feathered white wings and turned, flinging the loose feathers to the side.  Silver hair fell below its waist after being tied in a high ponytail and its sea green eyes locked on Kairi who was still recovering from the attack.  It extended its wings out and the feathered appendages disappeared.

"Behind you," it said and more heartless surged forward.

Sora had barely rolled over onto his hands and knees when the heartless came again.

"Riku!" thought Sora and tried to reach his friend again.

He worked away the heartless and saw Riku's face.  Sora destroyed the rest of the heartless on Riku and managed to awkwardly life him wit hone arm.  The heartless around them vanished suddenly and Sora turned face to face with the silver haired creature.  White lightning streamed from its hand clearing a path out of the black abyss.  Sora hefted Riku over his shoulder and ran out just as everything inside the opening erupted in flames.  The formerly winged being stepped out of the flames and closed the doors.  Sora took his cue and locked the door again.  Leon held his gunblade to the creature's throat.

"Who are you?"

Aeris helped Kairi up and the girl from Destiny Islands walked over.  The human looking creature stared at the brunette.

"Kiara?" Kairi murmured and fainted.

"Leon!"

Leon turned and looked over at Sora who was trying desperately to stop the blood flowing from Riku's body.  He signaled to Aeris to check him.  The woman in pink knelt by Sora and placed her hands over Riku.  The tares on both Riku's sides closed.  One of the larger chest wounds were starting to heal when Cloud came over and pulled Aeris away.

"No sense in dying trying to saved the condemned," said Cloud.  "People who have a chance of living ay need what little energy you now have left."

Sora turned to Aeris who was breathing heavily and looking all over worn out.

"But if I," she began.

"No."

"Why won't you let her save him!?" yelled Sora.

"Because people like us deserve to die, and why not let the very thing you sided with kill you."

"Cloud…."

Aeris looked down in defeat and stood.  Sora immediately went to work tearing apart his shirt to try and stop the bleeding.

"Excuse me, Kiara was it?" asked Aeris.  "Are you able to heal people?"

Cloud looked over annoyed.  Kiara glanced down at the blade at her throat and then at Leon who slowly lowered it.  She raised one hand toward Riku and the remaining wounds healed.

"So.. who are you?" asked Mickey.  "Where did you come from?"

"Kiara glared daggers at the small mouse.

"She's Kiara, my half-sister," said Kairi.

Yuffie helped her up and pulled a stray feather out of Kairi's hair.  Kiara look very displeased.

"Your sister?" asked Yuffie.

"I think," Kairi paused. "I do know you don't I?"

"Yes."

"Are we related?"

"No."

"Oh.. but I could swear I.."

"Yes.

"Then why.."

"We can't stay here.  The fire behind those doors will go out soon and the heartless will begin breaking through once more, "said Kiara.

"We can go to Traverse Town.  I'm sure they'll let us stay there," said Cid.

"To the gummi ships!" yelled Donald.

Sora lifted Riku and followed after the others.

"Mickey!"

"Minnie!"

"Are you alright?  I've been so worried!" the queen said.

"Donald and Goofy said you had important news for me."

"Yes."

"How's he doing?" asked Aeris.

"Sora said he hasn't moved yet," replied Kairi.

"Maybe Kiara could do something," suggested Yuffie, sitting on the bed in the abandoned house in the third district.

"She's barely said a word since we left kingdom hearts.  How do we know she's not a heartless?  Or like Maleficent?" wondered Cid.

"That's just it, we don't," replied Leon.

"Then why are we letting her run around free?' asked Cloud.

"She looks familiar though,' said Aeris.

"Sephiroth."

"That's gotta be it," jumped Yuffie.

"Silver hair _and_ green eyes are pretty rare," added Cid.

"Riku has silver hair and green eyes too," said Kairi.  "Maybe we should just ask Kiara."

"Where is she?" asked Leon.

"She can't be that far off."

The group split up to look.  Cloud, Leon, and Cid went to check the second district.  Yuffie and Aeris left to search the first district and Kairi went to look at Merlin's old place and the cave.  Cloud found the elusive girl out side the green room at the hotel.

"The others want to talk to you."

"Bring them here.  They'll be needed," Kiara said.

Cloud looked quizzically at Kiara and walked off.  It wasn't long before they were all gathered in the long hallway.

"What is this all.." began Leon.

Donald and Goofy came running in.

"Finally found ya," said Goofy.

"Why are you here?" asked Cloud.

"Everyone has to get out of here!" yelled Donald.  "traverse Town is about to explode!"

"What!?"

"Ya, some guy named Kuja has a giant ship right up there and is going to, uh, how'd he say it?  Shoot Traverse Town out of existence," said Goofy.

Everyone except Kiara ran out side and looked up.  A large red eye stared down at them through the clouds.  A beam shot from the eye down to the ground and the group covered their faces expecting an explosion.

"Kuja you bastard!  Give her back!  Kuja!"

Another light shot down, a tiny laser this time.  Kiara rushed past the others and dove on the monkey like man, knocking him out of the way of the beam.  The giant eye disappeared as Kiara stood.

"Dammit," the blonde cursed.

Kiara lifted the boy effortlessly onto his feet and pushed him toward the group.

"And you are?" asked Yuffie.

The newcomer scoffed at the ground, "I'm Zidane."

"Come on, we'll talk more inside," Aeris said.

Zidane jumped up to where the others stood and walked inside.  They sat around in the blue room and learned all about Kuja.

"So he has nothing to do with the strengthening of the heartless," lulled Yuffie.

"So we're back to square one," sighed Aeris.

"We still haven't found out why you were in Kingdom Hearts," scowled Leon.

Kiara looked around and finally conceded to talk.

"I come from Hollow Bastion.  I got into Kingdom Hearts through the portal at the center of my world."

"But why did you go?"

"Like the rest of you I felt the growing darkness and went to try and stop it," replied Kiara.  "And my connection to Kairi, as I'm sure you'll ask, is that we grew up together.  Or until Maleficent came and poisoned the king's mind."

"King Mickey?"

"Ha! No, Lord Bastion, the former liege of Hollow Bastion," said Kiara. "After I noticed the change in the King I sent the princess off to the last place maleficent would look: Destiny Islands."

"But if we grew up together, you would've only been seven when you sent me away," said Kairi.

"I was eight."

"We were told the princess was killed," said Leon.

"In a sense."

"So Kairi is the heir to Hollow Bastion," awed Aeris.

"Why don't I remember any of this?" asked Kairi.

Kiara placed her hand on Kairi's head.  A glow surrounded the two and then faded.

"So that's what home was like," Kairi sighed.

"Then where were you when Maleficent ruled?" asked Cloud, still not trusting the girl.

"After Maleficent realized I was the one to send the princess away she locked me deep beneath the castle and left me there until I talked."

"So you ratted her out.  Some friend," said Yuffie.

Kiara shook her hear slowly and a slight smile crossed her features for a split second, "I sent them on wild goose chases through out the worlds.  Not once did the words destiny or islands leave my lips."

"You were the one we heard screaming," said Aeris, realization crossing her face.

Kiara nodded, "But we needn't dwell on the past.  We need to go back to Hollow Bastion and put Kairi back on the throne."

"Why?" Kairi asked.

"Without a pure heart to guide it Hollow Bastion and its people will return to the darkness," replied Kiara.  "And these people will be forced to stay here again."

Zidane scratched his head curiously, "I'm not following any of this."

"And what about Kuja?" asked Donald.

Sora burst into the room, "Heartless."

They all jumped up and ran outside.  A fireball whizzed by and destroyed a part of the hotel's roof.  Donald answered with a fireball of his own and the Big Body dissipated.  The shadow heartless scurried up the walls at them.  Sora summoned the Ultima Weapon and was surprised when a key blade appeared next to him as well, being gripped tightly by their new silver haired ally.  The key blade was completely black and the key's teeth arched out from each side and came to a point together at the tip of the blade.  Kiara leapt over the railing and swung the dark blade destroying all the heartless within ten feet.  This proving how powerful Kiara was because the key blade itself was only three and a half feet long.

While Kiara fought the heartless pouring out of the third district the rest took the heartless surging from the first district.

"Kairi!  Get back inside!" yelled Sora.

"But I want to help!"

"Protect Riku!"

Kairi looked around at the others who were slowly beating back the heartless and ran inside.

"Hey!  Get off him!" Kairi punched a shadow heartless that was chewing on Riku's arm.  She then took an umbrella from the stand next to the door and beat the four surrounding heartless into black mist.  She closed the back door to the balcony and went to work on Riku's arm.  "Poor Riku."

Back out side Cloud and Cid ran to the third district and Leon and Yuffie ran to the first district to clean up any remaining heartless.  Sora felt him upper arm where a heartless had slashed him but found the wound completely gone.  Kiara jumped back up onto the walkway.

"Your key blade, what is it?" Aeris asked.

"The Heartless Blade," replied Kiara casually and reentered the hotel.

The others followed.

"Anything?" Sora asked hopefully.

"Nope," sighed Kairi.  "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah."

They sat around for a few minutes while they waited for the other four to return.

"I wonder how the heartless got here," said Leon.  "When portals are sealed they be opened until the key blade master re opens it, no matter what."

"Does it matter which key blade master?" asked Cloud and glared at Kiara.

"I'm not sure," Leon replied.  "We never thought there would be more than one."

"And yet we have four," sighed Yuffie.

"Who?"

"King Mickey, Sora, Riku, and Kiara," answered Donald.

"And Kiara, what did you call you key blade?" asked Goofy.

"The Heartless Blade."

"So you are the one who brought back the heartless!" growled Cloud and lunged at Kiara.

Leon and Cid grabbed the blonde before he reached the girl.  Aeris muttered something and cloud went limp against his restrainers and they placed him in a chair.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Zidane.

"As we were leaving the east side of Hollow Bastion we were attacked by the heartless," said Cid.

"The heartless took the heart of Cloud's other half so to speak," finished Yuffie.

"How sad," commented Kairi.

"I'd still like to know more about your key blade,' said Leon.

"It gets stronger with each heartless I kill.  Satisfied?"

"Temporarily."

"We should probably leave and let Riku get some rest," suggested Aeris and ushered Donald and Goofy out of the room.

Leon picked Cloud up and followed.  Zidane, Yuffie, and Cid left as well.

"You know I never really thought about it."

Kiara raised a quizzical brow.

"That the reason Riku's just lying here is that he lost his heart to the heartless," said Sora.

"And if that were true?"

"I'd hunt down and destroy who ever is controlling the heartless," scowled Sora.

"But what if," Kiara stepped away from the door and walked to the foot of the bed,' some one else took his heart and wasn't letting it go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hypothetically, what if Riku, to save his heart, gave it to Kairi."

"Huh?"

"Would you kill Kairi to save Riku?" She whispered close to his ear.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sora stepped away.

"Think back five years.  Kairi lost her heat, but where was it?"

"Inside me.."

"What are you willing to do to save your best friend, that _you_ condemned to the darkness?"

"Why are you saying this?"  Sora stepped back again.

"I'm trying to determine what I may have to do to save him by finding out what you won't do," Kiara flicked her bangs casually. "I'll kill you, any of them, if that's what it takes."

"Why do you care about Riku?"

Kiara bowed her bead and blushed slightly and said, "He made the screaming stop."


	4. The Horrors of Home

I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters.  Kiara is mine to don't take her ( really shoulda just made it one long chapter and only have to put this thing once..)(or there's copy and paste I guess)

In the other room Leon and the others were discussing what to do next.

"We still have no idea who's behind the heartless."

"We can beat back the heartless.  What about Kuja?" asked Leon.  "You said he brought his world here to assimilate with another world right?"

"Yes, but all the people in the world have to die first.  That's why he has the Invincible; to extinguish all life for the preservation of Terra," said Zidane.

"And he told the queen that he'd destroy worlds until she chooses a world for him," said Donald.

"And she'll choose Hollow Bastion for sure," commented Aeris.

"Not if we can put Kairi back on the throne," said Kiara as she came in.

"And why is that?"

"Mickey is no King," she stated.

"Why you!" Donald used Thundaga on Kiara but it seemed to just get absorbed into her hair.  She the flipped her head slightly so that her hair hit the door behind her.  The door crumbled.

Kiara put up a new door with the wave of her hand.  "As I was saying; Mickey is not the King.  The Mouse line has served at steward to Kairi's family for generations.  But with the death of Bastion and the assumed death of his only heir Mickey stole the crown," continued Kiara in her usual monotone.

"But what would be the purpose of me being crowned?  I just don't get it." Kairi sighed.

"Power would shift back to Kingdom Hearts and with the proper ruler and the right council we could rid ourselves of Kuja and the heartless for good."

"Kingdom Hearts?"

"Maleficent's memory spell did do its job," frowned Kiara.  "Hollow Bastion was not always named as such.  Hollow Bastion was the original Kingdom Hearts.  Maleficent renamed the world after she killed Bastion and Bastion sent the door away."

"If she used a forget spell, why do you remember?" asked Yuffie.

"I'm not the only one who remembers, but that other will remain anonymous," said Kiara.  "She cast the spell after she locked me up.  And it would have been extremely foolish to erase the memory of the one person who knew where the object of her search was."

"Then why did Kairi forget?" asked Goofy.

"Her memory block was because of me, not Maleficent."

"So our plan is to fly Kairi to Hollow Bastion, raise an army and kill the leader of the heartless _and_ Kuja," clarified Cid.  "Alright but still leaves us with one problem.  Who's leading the heartless?"

"They'll be at Hollow Bastion," said Cloud with his eyes still closed.  "And I'll kill them."

The troop stayed another day to rest before boarding Cid's large gummi ship.  Cloud and Kiara stayed far apart and Riku was still unconscious.  With the warp gummi damaged it was a three day trip even with the warp rift.  Riku woke on the second day.

Riku cracked open his eyes and looked to his left.  Sora was curled up in the bed side chair.

"I'm still dreaming," whispered Riku and stared at the ceiling.

Sora woke the moment Riku moved.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"A little stiff."

Riku sat up and swung his legs over the edge.

"The last time I sat on a bed my feet didn't touch the ground," laughed Riku softly.

Sora leaned over and poked Riku's cheek.

"Hey, what was that for?" asked Riku and batted his friends had away playfully.

"So I'm not dreaming.." gaped Sora.

Riku reached over and poked Sora, "Guess I'm not dreaming either."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"You grew," commented Riku.

"Yeah, five ten," Sora grinned.

The both stood to see if Riku was still taller.  They came eye to eye so they turned back to back to get a better judgment.  Sora felt Riku go slightly on his tiptoes so he did the same.  Riku stood higher and Sora got taller.

"So now it's a challenge to determine who has bigger feet," said Riku.

Sora laughed and stepped on the backs of Riku's heels.

"I win," he smiled.

Riku lifted his right foot and Sora toppled onto the bed.

"I win.  You should know that, I always win."

Kairi ran into the room and saw Riku on the floor with Sora over him tickling the silver haired boy to death it seemed.

"Well aren't you quick to recover," she said.

Sora stood and helped Riku up, both still trying to calm down.  Kairi walked over and hugged the silver haired boy.

"I'm glad you're ok," Kairi whispered and buried her face in the white fabric of Riku's shirt.

Riku looked over at Sora worriedly.  He placed his hands on Kairi's shoulders and pushed her pack softly.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Kairi silly.  I haven't changed that much."

Riku glanced at Sora helplessly and then turned back to Kairi.

"I've never met a Kairi in my life."

Kairi was shocked.  She stepped back and ran from the room.  Sora took his spot in the chair.

"How could you forget Kairi?"

"I didn't forget.  I never knew her so I could forget her," huffed Riku and sat on the bed.

"See it'd be one thing if you'd just forgot about people during five years of isolation, but you seem like you really never met her," mused Sora, and his guilt came back full force.  "What, um.. what happened during the last five years?"

"Hm…." Riku leaned forward and laced his fingers in his hair.

"Riku?"

"I don't know…."

Sora slumped forward, "It's all my fault….  I could've prevented this….  Riku I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"Forget it.  You'll remember some time," Sora smiled forlornly.

The room door opened again and Aeris and Kiara walked in with Kairi following close behind.

"So you are awake, I'm glad," said Aeris.

Riku leaned over to Sora," Do I know them too?"

"Yeah."

"Kairi told us you're having a bit of a memory problem," Aeris continued. "She thought maybe we could do something."

"Mm…. Ok."

Aeris placed a hand on Riku's hair and closed her eyes.  Two minutes crept by.

"I can't find anything wrong," Aeris sighed and stepped back.

"Then why.." began Sora

"Maybe it's not a matter of the mind but of the heart," said Kiara from her place against the wall.

"What are you saying?" asked Kairi.

"The heartless probably took most of his heart, and the bit they left.. is you," she looked at Sora.

"So he'll never remember me?" Kairi sniffled.

Aeris gave her a hug, "All we have to do is kill the heartless that took Riku's heart."

"But there were so many heartless," Sora said as he looked at his brooding friend.  "How will we know which ones to kill?"

"We'll just have to kill them all," said Kiara and walked out.

Kairi soon followed with Aeris.

"Hungry?"

"Starving."

Sora led Riku to the kitchen.

"So what do you want?" Sora asked.

"Depends on what there is."

"Anything," Sora patted a small microwave-looking device.  "So what are you in the mood for?"

"A cheese burger."

"You have to chance to eat anything you want and you choose a cheese burger?"  Sora punched a few buttons and the machine flashed. "But whatever."  Sora passed Riku his choice food and put in a different code and sat down with his food.

"Cheese cake?"

"You betcha!" smiled Sora.

They ate quickly and decided to walk around the ship.

"So..  I'm really the only thing you remember?" asked Sora.

"Yup," Riku tucked some of his bangs behind his ear.

Yuffie came running down the hallway.

"Enemy gummis, come on."

They ran with the green clad ninja to the gunner seats.  The three took their spots and pulled down the targeting system and activated the guns.  Riku was the first one set up and firing.

"Well he obviously remembers something else," thought Sora.

"I've never seen so many!" exclaimed Yuffie.

"Considering the circumstances I'm not surprised," Sora replied.

Kiara and Leon soon joined them.

"They've put up more barricades," Leon said.

"So that's why I'm getting air sick," laughed Yuffie.

"This is bad guys,' said Cid over the communication system. "We're taking heavy damage.  We'll have to bail soon if this keeps up."

"Roger Eagle One," replied Leon and nodded toward Yuffie.

"Got it."

Yuffie ran off to ready the escape pods.

"You two should go too," suggested Leon.

"You'll manage?"

"Of course."

"Lets go Riku."

The two synchronously jumped over the backs of their chairs and ran after Yuffie.

"So who were they?" asked Riku as they ran.

"The guy was Leon, the girl with the silver hair was Kiara, she's the girl from earlier."

"And I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie," she said as they entered the pod room.  "Aeris, Kairi, and Zidane already left."

"So three to a pod?" asked Riku as he watched Donald and Goofy wait impatiently for the next shuttle to load into the launcher.

"No, four, but Donald and Goofy wanted to go together," replied Yuffie.

"And how many pods?"

"Two left."

Cloud came in.

"Well it's time for me to go," Yuffie smiled.

Cloud, Yuffie, Donald, and Goofy boarded the pod and it locked up.  Yuffie waved before she was catapulted out with the others.

"What's wrong Sora?" Riku asked.

"There's one pod left."

"Yeah, just enough for the two of us and, um, the other two gunners.'

"There's still Cid," said Sora.

"Oh…."

"Everyone ready?" asked Cid as he came in with Kiara and Leon.  "Don't worry, we'll fit."

Sora and Riku got in the pod, then Leon and Cid.

"The four of us barely fit,' commented Leon, trying to not be so close to Sora.

"I'm sure Kiara doesn't take up that much room," Cid extended his hand to the girl and helped her in.  he hit a button and the pod door slammed shut, knocking Kiara forward.  She landed softly on Riku's lap.

"See, she fits," Cid smiled and they launched.

Kiara stood and noticed there was an upper rack to store things and she climbed in here.  Cid watched out the window as his precious ship was destroyed.

"Everyone ok?" Cloud radioed.

"Yeah, we're safe," said Aeris.

"Same here," said Cid.

"If we stay out of the main stream we should be able to get to Hollow Bastion by tomorrow night," commented Leon.

"Sounds good," agreed Cloud.  "We'll split up for now.  Spike Blade out."

"See you guys there," said Aeris and disconnected.

Two hours later found most of pod three's crew asleep.  Riku had pillowed his head on Sora's shoulder who in turn used the other boy's head as his own pillow.  Leon had his head tilted forward in silent sleep while Cid took care of the nighttime driving.

"Hey, would you mind passing me a bottle of water from up there?" Cid asked softly and held his hand over his head.  The hand soon held his wanted object.  "Thanks."

Kiara repositioned herself so she could see out the rear facing windows.  Small asteroids floated by, some alarmingly close to the small round gummi ship.

"When's the last time you slept?"

Kiara rolled onto her back to think.

"Two weeks."

"Talk about a bad case of insomnia," whistled Cid.  "You should really try to at least attempt to sleep tonight."

Kiara growled and rolled to not face the opening to her ring compartment.

When morning came Leon took over the driving while Cid slept.

"So what kind of food do we have around here?" asked Sora, knocking on the ceiling above him.  Consequently hitting it hard enough to jar a water bottle onto its side, which rolled into Kiara's back.

Three apples pelted Sora in the head.

"Owe.." the brunette clutched his forehead.

"Apples?  Apples don't keep well," commented Riku.

"They're fresh, don't worry," said Leon and began to eat his.

Around mid-day everyone took a nap while Kiara drove.  When they woke Hollow Bastion was in sight.

"It's gotten worse," sighed Cid as he guided the pod to the dock, or what was left of it.

"Hey Kiara, what side of Hollow Bastion are you from?" asked Leon.

"Top Side.  You guys are from East Side, I know," she replied.

Pod one was already there and two was close coming in.

"Look at all the heartless," gaped Aeris.

"Do you..  Do you think Dagger could be here?" asked Zidane.

"I don't think so," answered Cloud.

"Where are we now?" asked Riku.

"South Side," replied Yuffie.  "Soldier territory."

"Hey, where'd Kiara go?" wondered Donald.

"Hm?"

Everyone looked around.  Sora spotted her walking down the long brittle flight of stairs.  They all followed.  The heartless attacked them almost instantly.  Riku summoned the Oblivion as second nature and started hacking away at the heartless like the others.  The heartless were no match for their power and crumbled beneath them.

"Now where?" asked Goofy.

"Up.  To the castle," said Kiara.

Sora looked up at the icy ledges and cringed, "We can't make it up that."

Kiara leapt effortlessly onto the first ledge as did Cloud, Zidane, and Riku.

"Show offs," scoffed Sora.

Riku knelt and extended his hand, "Come on Sora."

The troop assisted each other in scaling the wall except Kiara who stood at the top keeping and eye out for potential dangers.  They had just reached the top when an arrow shot over Kiara's head, slicing the ribbon that held her hair up, making her silver hair fall free.  After that a few humans below in front of Kiara started screaming and scrambling about.

"Sephiroth!  Sephiroth's still alive!" they yelled.  "Tell his majesty!"

Cloud looked around.  He walked slowly to Kiara who turned to face him.

"You do look the same," Cloud tucked Kiara's loose hair behind her left ear.  "His eyes are brighter though."  He skidded down the slope to the scurrying enemies and cleaved them in half with his buster sword.

Aeris stepped up to the silver haired girl, "Can we take a detour through East Side?  We're all really worried."

"We have to," Kiara pointed to an ice wall that blocked their passage and slid down to assist Cloud with the heartless and their human controllers.

They reached East Side after that with few problems.

"Tifa!"

Aeris knelt by the black haired girl and roller her over.  She had thought Tifa was just lying on her right arm but in fact the arm was missing and blood leaked from the opening.

"Irvine!"

Leon ran over to the light-brown haired man in a modern type cowboy outfit.  He was leaning against a wooded shack with his gun still gripped tightly in his hand.

"Irvine, look at me!" Leon shook the man hard till his eyes cracked open.

"Squall?  You're back,' Irvine coughed.

"What's wrong?" Leon asked.  "What happened?"

"Right after you left the heartless attacked.  There were too many for us."

"It's ok, it's ok."

Leon stayed with Irvine and did his best to soothe him as he slipped away.

"What happened?  He seemed fine," asked Cid.

"I saw his hand and noticed he wasn't holding his gun because he wanted to.  The metal of the gun and his skin melted together, and then I noticed his pony tail was redder than his bangs," sighed Leon.

"So they're all.." Yuffie choked back a sob.

"I'm afraid so," replied Sora looking around.

"This is awful," Kairi murmured and latched onto Sora's arm.

Cloud ventured over to the docking area and began looking for something.  He saw masse of dead people strewn and piled in front of a metal house like they had died protecting it.  Cloud apologized to each person he stepped on by name, seeing as how he knew them all.  He had to knock a few bodies out of the way so he could get to the doorknob and through the door.  The metal slab creaked open and let a little light into the small one roomed house.  There was a sink and a stove on the same wall as the door and then a bed parallel to it on the opposite wall.  Cloud walked over to the bed and crouched down.

"I don't suppose you're just sleeping are you?"

Cloud brushed back silvery bangs from a too pale face.  The blonde sighed and grabbed the prone figures hand and rested his head on it.

"I'll get your heart back, I promise," Cloud said and left the house.

"You fell in love with my brother, cute."

Cloud turned and saw Kiara sitting on top of the house he was previously occupying.

"What are you talking about?" asked Cloud.  "Sephiroth has no family."

Kiara raised an eyebrow at his reply and jumped down.

"The others are ready to move out," she said and walked away.

Cloud glanced one more time at the house and followed.

"Did you find him?" asked Leon, separating the dead from the people who had lost their hearts but still had a chance of surviving.

"He's still in one piece," replied Cloud.  "Lets go.  This is a job for later."

The closer they got to the castle the more heartless tried to stop them.  They were about to open the great doors to the castle when five Wizards and a Defender popped up.  During the small skirmish Donald and Goofy disappeared.

"Where do you think they went?" asked Zidane.

"Maybe they got scared," whispered Kairi.

"I know I am," Zidane thought.

They went inside to the giant lobby.  Water trickled from a fountain and pooled out of a crack in the basin onto the marble floor.

"You three go check the Library, the rest of us will head up to the throne room," said Leon.

Aeris, Yuffie, and Cid walked up the stairs and to the right while the others went up and straight.

"Do you remember any of this?" Sora asked.

Riku looked around, "None of it."

"This is where I woke up," commented Kairi.

"Yup.  Right there," Sora pointed.

"Come on you three," commanded Kiara and walked through ha portal.

"You know, I was just thinking,' said Kairi.  "All the heartless that attacked Riku already died.  So why isn't Riku's heart back if what Aeris said was true?"

"We just don't know. I asked Cloud the same question earlier," replied Leon and passed through the portal.

The others stopped to ponder their thoughts a little more before stepping through.  They popped out in a dark room right as a blood-curdling cry emitted from deeper in the pitch-black room.

"That sounded like Aeris!"

Ok, I understand some of this may be confusing and I'm sorry for that, and any errors you find.  I'm not the best typer around.  I type fast but not well ^_^;; Well any way.  Just to clear a few things up.  Sora and Riku are not going together!  Absolutely no way.  But and you now know there is a little chemistry between Sephiroth and Cloud, sorry to any of you who don't agree but don't worry their relationship does not impact this story, it's just.. there.  And in Chapter 1 the Silver haired man who was mistaken fro a woman was not Riku, it was Kuja.  Sorry for that confusion.  And he will be back by the way, patience.  My mind only works so fast.  If there are any other questions feel free to e-mail me at Maxwells_Mistress@hotmail.com or submit a review.  Oh did I mention I like getting reviews, good or bad.  I'll do my best to get chapter five up by Monday but I'm swamped with work right now with the semester ending and I need to catch up on some things so I'm sorry if the next chapters are you for have long waiting periods but I'll do my best to get them up.  Thanks for reading!


	5. Winged One's End

Don't own Kingdom hearts or its characters no matter how much I wish I did.  Kiara is mine, ask before you use her and if I say yes make sure to give proper credit or what not.  On to story!

"That sounded like Aeris!" said Sora and stepped closer to Riku, unconsciously grabbing the other boy's hand.

"Hey!  Let go of me!" yelled Zidane. "Hands off my.."

They heard a loud thud off to their right where Zidane had been.

"What's going on!?" Kairi asked urgently.

Riku was knocked over by a blow to the face by a soft feathery object.  Sora and Kairi knelt and grouped around in the darkness for their companion.  They heard Leon's gunblade go off and then clatter to the ground.

"Leon!" Yuffie yelled. "Ahh!"

"What _is_ going on?" Sora thought.  "We need some light."

As if on queue bright lights turned on high overhead.  Sora was temporarily blinded by the brightness of the white lights.  When his eyes adjusted he saw Riku a few feet back from where he was crouched wiping blood from his nose.  He turned back to where he had heard Yuffie scream.

"Oh my god," muttered Kairi and she helped Riku up.

Leon lay impaled by his own blade on the blue-black stone.  Yuffie was draped over his legs with her giant throwing star in her back.  A shadow heartless jumped on Aeris's mutilated and dismembered body.  Cid was on his knees leaning forward with his spear through his chest propping him up.  Blood pooled around them all.  Cloud was still upright though, he was chained against the far wall next to the dark throne but he was unconscious.  Zidane was curled up like a small child near the right wall of the small entrance hall.

"Where's Kiara?" wondered Riku and he killed the shadow.

Sora looked around and behind him.  High above the portal he saw her.  Kiara's large wings hung down completely and her head tilted back against the cold stone.  The most noticeable thing was Cloud's buster sword protruding form her stomach, nailing her to the wall and causing blood to flow down the wall.

"Who could have done this?" whispered Kairi.

"Me."

"I know that voice!" exclaimed Sora.

A figure materialized in the throne.  Two large black ears stuck out from its head like satellites.

"Mickey Mouse!"

"Yes, Mickey Mouse," he seethed.

"What did you do!?" yelled Riku.

"They were bothersome pests," Mickey said waving his hand.

"How dare you,' Sora glared.

"I didn't do anything Lord bastion didn't do in the past."

"What?" asked Kairi.

"Bastion slaughtered anyone who tried to steal his crown," clarified Mickey.

The gunblade in Leon's back and the weapon in Yuffie's popped out of their wounds and the wounds healed.  Mickey glared upward.

"Why won't you die!?" Mickey yelled and cast Thundaga on the winged creature but the electricity only danced in through her hair.  The current traveled into the wall and exploded, propelling Kiara and the giant sword away.  Kiara hit the ground hard on her stomach, forcing the sword the rest of the way through.  Cloud's weapon fell to the floor next to her.

"Kiara!" Kairi yelled and ran over to her.

Leon and Yuffie were now standing with their weapons in their hands instead of their backs.

"No!"

Mickey stood and sent fireballs at the two renewed fighters but the orbs bounced back at him.

"What the?"

A small green rabbit like creature with a red jewel in its forehead peeked from behind Leon's leg and disappeared.  (Carbuncle)

"Come, my new heartless.  Destroy these worms.  Except the silver haired boy.  We need him," said Mickey.

Five tall robust men came out of the other passageway into the room.  One went for Leon, one to Yuffie, one to Riku, and one to Kairi.

"A.. Ansem?" asked Yuffie.

"Yes," all five answered synchronously.  "This is my payment for helping the darkness."

Leon attacked the heartless in front of his but it caught his blade.

"Not so fast _Squall_," leered Ansem.  "Isn't it sad, that you'll have to change your name again?"

"What?"

"Well you failed to protect them once and became Leon, and now you've failed again," now only the one Ansem whispered in the brunette's ear. "Receive the darkness and you can save them.  Bring them back to life and protect them.  Isn't that what you want?  Small price to save their souls."

Leon looked at the ground and then at the others who were in similar states of thought.  All probably given similar offers.

"No," the five companions said and began fighting.

Cid was now up as well and defended Kairi and the un-moving Kiara who was still some how healing their wounds every time they got one.  The Ansems however where too powerful and even though their bodies stayed in good condition their energy was fast depleting.  Soon the six were chained along the wall opposite Cloud who was watching them all sadly.

"What do you want from us!?" screamed Kairi.

"Now that my victory is assured I'll tell you," replied Mickey.

"Five years ago Maleficent told me the heir to Hollow Bastion still lived and that the knowledge of who it was was locked inside Kingdom Hearts.  So I went in search of it and had Donald and Goofy find the key to the door.  I wasn't expecting to be locked in Kingdom Hearts for five years, but I don't regret not escaping.  For while I was in there I learned a lot, and I met Ansem."

"What's all this have to do with us?  It sounds like you just have some beef with Kairi," said Riku.

"Trust me this involves you," Mickey grinned. "In return for the secrets to the darkness I promised Ansem a corporeal heartless form which you see before you.  Then he told me how to rid myself of the darkness to keep the throne.  To do that I need the hearts of the King's guards."

"And how would you know who they are?" asked Leon.

"Silver hair and green eyes."

"So you're saying Riku was Bastion's body guard?  He can't be, I've known him all my life."

"Not him in specific.  His father, the father the three share."

"So know Kiara and Riku are related?" wondered Yuffie.

"Yes.  Their father sacrificed himself to stall Maleficent's armies while Bastion sealed Kingdom Hearts.  He had the purest heart of any man that ever lived.  Donald!  Goofy!  Bring the third."

Donald and Goofy pulled a cart in, on it lie Sephiroth.  Cloud's glowing blue eyes followed the procession worriedly.

"Sora looked around, "Now I get it, the heartless weren't the ones who stole Riku's heart, you did it."

"And I would have gotten all of it if it weren't for her," Mickey growled.  "After Riku lost consciousness he could no longer protect his heart, but then you all came along and I had to cooperate otherwise you'd grow suspicious.  The heartless could have brought the rest of it but the sister showed up."

"So what now?" asked Riku solemnly.

"I'll find away to extract the rest of you heart and then take hers," replied Mickey.  "Donald, Goofy, get rid of those."

"Yes sir!"

Sora and the others watched the duck push Aeris and all her pieces down a hole next to the throne and Goofy dragged Zidane by the tail over and dropped him in as well.  Kairi started to cry more.  Her sobs stopped abruptly when a pulse of energy washed over them.  It came from Kiara.

"What's going on?" yelled Mickey.  "You, Ansem number.. which ever one you are, make it stop!"

One of the Ansems walked toward Kiara and was promptly cleaved in half by a giant seven foot long sword.

"A person's heart resides in all its friends.  You can't take it until they've given it away," said Cloud looking at Sephiroth with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Sephiroth stepped next to Kiara and stared at Mickey.  Kiara was instantly on her hands and feet, baring her fangs at her enemies.  The blood pouring from her wound stopped with a touch from Sephiroth.  Kiara didn't look like she used to.  Her body was still human except for her head which was fox like and she how had a silver tail.  Fur had also sprouted from her skin.

"This would have been a nice thing to know about Ansem," said Mickey.

"Yes it would have," snapped Ansem as all of him stepped back.

Donald cowered behind the throne.

"On come on Donald.  Are you a man or a mouse?" asked Goofy.

Donald looked at Mickey, "If I say mouse will you bee insulted?"

"Yes!  Now get out there!"

Kiara growled louder and Sephiroth placed his hand on her head, "Hush Kitsune."

Kiara sat dog-like and rubbed her head against Sephiroth's hand.

"So she's the one who took after their mother.  I was wondering which of you it'd be," said Ansem. "Hey, you two good for nothings, get them."

Donald and Goofy approached the two but the moment they got too close Kiara was back up and growling.

"Nice fox demon girl, nice kitty," cooed Donald. "Goofy, try barking at it."

"I don' know.."

"Just do it."

"She's not a cat you idiots," murmured Cloud.

Goofy started barking.  He soon found the tip of a long sword at his throat.

"Gulp..  Now Sepheeroth don't you think that's a little harsh?"

"No."

"Come on Ansem, do your job," ordered Mickey.

The four Ansems surrounded the pair and stood just out side Masamune's reach.  With one step and a swing however two of the Ansems disappeared and a third was being torn up by the flying fox demon.  The fourth shimmered away.  Cloud had now managed to wriggle out of his chains and was in the process of freeing the others.

"I guess when you want something done right you have to do it yourself," Mickey huffed and dark energy began to swirl around him.

"We've gotta protect Kairi," said Leon.

"We can leave that to them," Sora gestured to Sephiroth and Kiara.  "It's their job isn't it?"

"I'm going after Aeris and Zidane.  Stay alive alright?" said Yuffie and sprinted to the hole and jumped in.

"Kairi, stand behind them," said Cloud and pushed the girl to ward Sephiroth.

Mickey dashed at Kairi during her fifteen foot crossing between groups.  All protective parties dove on the mouse to stop him.  They piled on Mickey and did their best to hold him down.  Though with one twirl Mickey flung them all to the out skirts of the room and ran at Kairi again.  Kiara ran and grabbed hold of Mickey's foot with her sharp teeth, tripping him and allowing the others to recover and attack.

"Kairi!" yelled Sora.

Their assault stopped and everyone looked at Kairi.  Ansem held the auburn haired girl back with a knife to her throat.

"It's about time," frowned Mickey and patted some dust off his clothes.

"Naïve mouse.  I'm not doing this for you.  Once the princess is dead I'll kill you and the heartless will rule all worlds!" he drew the short blade across Kairi's neck and pushed her forward.  Sora caught her and Kiara leapt up and flew down at Ansem.

While the fox girl kept the silver haired enemy busy the others turned on Mickey again.

"No!  I will succeed!" Mickey exclaimed and lashed out.  Black rays shot from the mouse and burned away anything they touched, which included flesh.

"Kairi!" Sora looked down at the girl cradled in his lap.

"I'm fine," Kairi brought her hands to her throat where a small amount of blood had seeped out before the wound had closed.  "A little wigged out though."

Kiara started to rush her battle, realizing Mickey was possibly stronger than her companions could handle, but Ansem was proving to be just as difficult.

"How can a mouse be so powerful?" thought Sora, watching his friends fight.  "Is this the power of Darkness?"

Sephiroth and Cloud had to bow out of the fight because their weapons were to large to be used safely.  They stepped back just in time to see Kiara dive at Ansem's back and see him turn and run his sword through Kiara's chest.  Cloud and Sephiroth dashed at Ansem and he flung Kiara off his weapon.  Kiara skidded back on two feetand found her animalistic features gone.  She placed a hand over the horizontal slit in the lower half of her ribcage.  She began to hyperventilate from the lack of oxygen and fell to her knees.  Mickey let out a burst of energy and knocked his assailants away.  Then he ran t oKiara and pushed her over.  The winged girl had fallen unconscious while she sat and could put forth no resistance.

"No yelled Riku as Mickey stabbed Kiara.

Kiara's wings shrank into her back as Mickey's key blade began to glow.  The light traveled from the blade into its wielder and faded.

"Was that…" Kairi stopped.

"I think so," replied Sora.

The combatants recovered from their shocked states and charged.  Sora and Kairi grabbed Riku though before he entered the fray.

"What are you doing?" protested Riku and tried to pull away.

"You've got to be careful or he'll steal you heart too," said Kairi.

"He already did," Riku glared and ran off.


	6. A Simple Hope

Hey, I'm so sorry this took so long to get up.  I write a lot of other things not fanfiction related and my one friend bugs me ALL the time to write in the other ones but I have disobeyed and done this up during my classes ^_^  Yeah, screw school! Woo! Sorry, this is what happens to writers at 1 in the morning and having consumed 7 cups of coffee.  And oh yeah, all disclaimer stuff applies.

"You've gotta be careful, or he'll steal your heart too," said Kairi.

"He already did," Riku glared and ran off.

There was an airy sound behind them and Sora turned just in time to see the rest of Ansem disappear in smoke.  Sephiroth seemed to disappear for a moment and reappear with Kiara and set her down.

"Well?" asked Cloud.

"I can't heal her if she doesn't have a heart," replied Sephiroth.

"Can't you do something?  Didn't she give you part of your heart back?" asked Kairi.

"Yes but..  It's not the same," said Sephiroth.  "She doesn't have any friends to pretect her heart."

"Except Riku," said Sora.

"Riku?"

"Yeah, Kiara told me about when the two of them first met."

"Attacking them is suicide," said Donald, walking over.

Cloud stood ready to cut Donald down and Masamune was raised horizontal to the ground ready to strike the talking dog.

"Put those down," sighed Sora but neither ex-SOLDIER lowered their weapon.

"Come on, we're not heartless," said Goofy.

"Close enough," Sephiroth narrowed his eyes.

"Riku!  No!" Leon yelled.

"Riku!" Sora gasped at the sight before him.  Riku was slumped against the wall with the kingdom key through his chest.

Mickey walked over and gripped his sword, absorbing the golden light illuminating from it.  Mickey now glowed with the light and fixed his gaze on Sephiroth.  Leon clutched the gaping wound in his chest and tried to stand but crumpled to the floor near Cid.  Mickey stalked toward Donald and Goofy.  A dark liquid like blob slithered behind the feaux king, growing and taking shape as it neared.

"Look out behind you!" Donald yelped right before Ansem struck Mickey down.

Donald and Goofy scattered like leaves in a breeze and dashed from the room.  Sora held the Ultima Weapon at his side, crouching in a readied stance while Kairi ducked behind Cloud.  Mickey quickly stood.

"How dare you strike your master!?" boomed Mickey.

"Hollow Bastion.. will stay.. hollow.. under the control of the heartles.. under my control," said Ansem.

Mickey went yoda on the tall tanned man, jumping and flipping all around Ansem attacking when he found an opening.  However more Ansems appeared and restrained the mouse and encirlced the other four.

"Duck," said Sephiroth and swung his sword infront of him, killing half the surrounding enemies.  Cloud cleaved the other half.

"What ever happened to the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" asked Ansem.  "We can help each other."

"What can you do to help us?" Sora looked at him defiantly.

"Well I could hold onto the little mouse and you could unlock your friends' hearts or I can kill him, and let their hearts be lost to the darkness forever," said Ansem.  "And in return you'd clear out of Hollow Bastion for good and surrender the world to the heartless."

"We can't do that.  This world is home to too many people," said Cloud.

"All of which are dead.  So do we have a deal?"

The four stood silent. Sora looked over at Riku who lay almost peacefully against the wall.

"We'll all die before we get out of here," the brunette thought.  "But we'd have a better chance if they were up."  Sora walked up to Ansem and offered his hand.  "Deal."

Ansem grabbed Sora's hand and sealed the deal.  Sora took Riku's key blade and walked toward Mickey.

"Give me back my friends you son of a bitch," seethed Sora and plunged the dark key deep into the mouse's chest.

A star burst of light erupted from the impact point and filled the room with a bright white light.  Sora was knocked back by an invisible force and rubbed his rear end on which he had fallen.  When the light faded everyone was recovering from the blast, Kiara and Riku included.

"Lets go!" yelled Sora and ran to Kairi.

Leon and Cid's wounds healed but their energy was still depleted.  Cloud and Sephiroth helped them up and half carried them to the portal.  Ansem hot on their heels.

"Riku come on!" Sora called.

"I'm going after Yuffie!  We'll meet you at the docks!"

The silver haired boy disappeared down the hole, two Ansems after him.  Sora ran after the others.  Lightning shot from Kiara's hand to stall the Ansems tailing them but it only gave them a few more seconds.  They ran down to the lobby and outside.  Sora touched the spikey signal and the platform appeared.  They all squeezed on and looked back.  Ansem dove from the platform at them and managed to knock them all off.  They tumbled toward the ground and saw the cross-roads rising quickly to meet them.  Sephiroth encircled in a force field and slowed them just before they reached the ground.  Ansem had disappeared during the fall.

"Everyone alright?" Cloud asked.

"We're ok," replied Sora and helped Kairi up.

"Fine over here," said Leon.

"Yeah," Cid checked in.

"Hn."

They ran again, taking the road marked _To South Side_.  They were starting to tire when they ran into the solid ice wall.

"Now what?" asked Kairi.  "We're stuck!  We're gonna die!"

"Shut up Kairi, we're not going to die," mumbled Sora and rubbed his eyes.

"This way!"

"Donald?"

"Come on, there isn't much time!  Atlantica just disappeared!" Goofy yelled from a hole in the ice.

"Kuja!" exclaimed Leon.

"We can't trust them," said Cloud.

"Hurry!" Donald yelled.

"Cloud's right," agreed Sephiroth.

"We have no choice, we havet o trust them," commented Sora.

They reluctantly followed, climbing shakey frozen ladders to the top of the ice block.

"Now what?" asked Kairi as she tried to warm herself.

Kiara pulled slightly on a wire that ran parallel to the ground toward the docks.  She hopped up on it and started to walk across.  Sephiroth and Cloud followed suit.

"No @$&$#% way," Cid stepped back. "That's too far a drop for me."

"He's got a point," said Leon shakily.

"It's Ansem!" Kairi gasped.

They looked below and saw Ansem clones covering the ground beneath the wire.

"Now I'm definitely not crossing," Cid started back down the ladder.

"You'd rather face all of them?" asked Sora.

Kiara's wings sprouted out and she flew the few feet back to the ice top.  She picked up Kairi and bolted for the docks.

"Why couldn't she have done this in the first place?" sighed Cid.  "Almost gave me a #&%@$% heart attack."

Sephiroth and Cloud ran over the wire and got Kairi into one of the pods.  Kiara brought Sora over and shoved him in as well.  Next was Cid, he was kicking and screamig the whole way over.  I Kiara had thought the others wouldn't mind she would have dropped him.  Lastly was Leon.

"Shoudl we get them?" asked Leon. "They did help us."

"We would fill up the pods that way," said Cid.

"And they're definitely not spacious," Kiara murmured.

"Hey, where'd they go?" asked Sora, poking his head out.

Donald and Goofy had vanished again.

"Leon!"

"Yuffie!"

The great ninja hugged Leon tightly.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

"On their way.  We had to detour around the Ansem pool."

"What about Aeris?"

"Ei.. uh.. she ain't comin'," sulled Yuffie.

"Oh $#@%."

The flood of Ansems rose to hover on level with the docks.

"Just here to make sure you leave," one Ansem said.

Zidane snuck[1] over and slipped into the pod with Sora and Kairi.

"Where's Riku?" asked Sora.

"Almost here."

Cid climbed in the pod with them.

"We're getting the #%$@ outta here," said Cid and closed the pod.

"What about the others?" asked Zidane.

"Trust me, they can take care of themselves," replied Cid and they took off.  "Why did you agree anyway?"

"If we all make it off then the world is only inhabited by the heartless.  So Kuja can take the world and get rid of the heartless," answered Sora.

"Then what about Kuja?" asked Kairi.

"Kuja's not really all that bad," commented Zidane. "He's just like me really."

"The why the #%$@ is he blowing our #$%@#%$ worlds up!?" asked Cid.

"To save his and its people.  You'd probably do the same if you could," replied Zidane.

Back on the docks Riku had just climbed up from the back side of the port.

"Now all we have to do is get out of here and we're home free," said Yuffie.  "Just creep back to the pods."

"Yes, run away," leered Ansem.

That comment sparked something within Sephiroth that caused him to stay riveted where he was along with the other males still there.  Yuffie was the only one who took Ansem's advice to run to the pod.

"Um, guys?"

Kiara suddenly grabbed Leon and Riku and threw them quite painfully into the pod with Yuffie and heaved the door shut.  Yuffie took the hint and pressed the launch button.  In a quick flash Kiara was back on all fours, snarling at the horde before her.

"All you have to do is leave and yet you stick around wanting to die," Ansem said.

"This is our home, I won't abandon in again," said Cloud and laced his fingers with Sephiroth's atop the slightly calmed Kiara's head.

Wings of different colors and types sprouted from each of their backs and the dove into the cloud of Ansems.

*******************

"I wonder what everyone else is doing," Sora sighed and watched the stars zoom by.

"They're probably not that far behind us," replied Kairi.

"But what is.."

"They all got off," Cid said adamantly.

"Cid!  Cid you there!?"

Cid jumped at the sound of the crackling radio.

"I'm here Yuffie what's up?"

"They didn't leave!"

"What the %$@#$&% #$%@!"

"Kiara, Sephiroth, and Cloud didn't leave!" Yuffie repeated.

"So Riku and Leon are with you?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, and pretty pissed to.  No!  We're going that way!  No more driving for you!"

"Yuffie?"

"No!  My steering wheel!  Leon!  Sit!  Back I say!"

Sora burst out laughing and the others joined in.

"Wha, why are you looking at me like that?  Riku calm down.  No, not the thrus-Eep!" the com. system shut off.

"So the three hard heads stayed back.  Figures," sighed Cid.

"What'll happen to them?" Zidane asked.

"They'll probably die valiant deaths in vain," Cid replied.  "It's what they wanted though.  They have no interests in growing old and seeing out a long life."

"Don't they want kids?  Little kids to leave behind in a better world that they created?" asked Kairi.

"Rumor has it they each have tiny replicas on one world or another."

"What about you?" Sora inquired.

"Me?! No, no munchkins for me thank you, and I'm already old ta boot."

***************

"Just give up.  Let the darkness consume your hearts."

"We… We, ca-ah," Cloud fell to one knee and his sword clattered next to him.

Cloud knelt clutching his left arm as blood rushed down his face.  Sephiroth stood to his right barely still holding Masamune off the ground.  Kiara completed their close-knit triangle, growling feebly and hopping every now and then on her one back leg.  The other had been hacked off.

"All will return to darkness!"

The Ansem army was about to finish the trio off when Blizzaga, Firaga, and Thundaga shocked the mass all at once.

"Not so fast. This is MY kingdom."

Ok I'm terribly sorry this took so long to update.  I'm forgetful ^_^;; and lazy but we won't go into details.  Hopefully the next chapter won't be so long in coming.  And keep and eye out for another new fic of mine that may be posted the same time as the next chapter (if I can get it finished).  Well thanks for keeping with me and don't forget to review!! I luv reviews. But we wont go into details ^_^


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